If winning is everything, British anthropologists have some advice: Wear red.

But we already knew that. Check out Tiger Woods’ Sunday wardrobe … and the dominant Chiefs teams at home in the 1990s wore … you guessed it, red.

In a survey of four sports at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Russell A. Hill and Robert A. Barton of the University of Durham in England found that competitors were more likely to win their contests if they wore red uniforms or red body armor.

“Across a range of sports, we find that wearing red is consistently associated with a higher probability of winning,” their report said in today’s issue of Nature.

Red coloration is associated with aggression in many animals — from the scowling face of the male Mandrill, Africa’s largest monkey species, to the red dot on the abdomen of a female black widow spider.

Similarly, the color’s effect also may subconsciously intimidate opponents in athletic contests, especially when the athletes are equal in skill and strength.

In their survey, the anthropologists analyzed the results of boxing, tae kwon do, Greco-Roman wrestling and freestyle wrestling.

In those events, the athletes were randomly assigned red protective gear and other sportswear.

Athletes wearing red gear won more often in 16 of 21 rounds of competition in all four events.

The red effect also might come into play in team sports.

A preliminary analysis of the Euro 2004 international soccer tournament found that five teams scored more goals and won more often when they wore shirts that were predominantly red, as opposed to blue or white jerseys. Hear that, Royals?

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/11681196.htm

Simplex3

05-19-2005, 03:24 AM

This is the third time that I know of this has been posted.

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Simplex3

05-19-2005, 03:26 AM

I tried searching for "British Anthropologists". Figured it would be pretty unique. It was.